What to put on a new laptop?

[Dekar]

You prove nothing, you can't change laptop graphic chips - at least not like you can for desktops. There have been some efforts to make proprietary laptop graphic card sockets by Alienware. And the "Its not hard to make a laptop"... no it's not hard, you have to don't click me like 10.000 GPUs from NVIDIA (they won't sell you small amounts) and design your own circuit board layout to solder one of those together with your chipset (another 10.000 chipsets you have to don't click me?) and add Samsung GDDR for the GPU. Seriously, not hard at all - with only like 500k$ you can start thinking about it.

[matchai]

1. The laptop rollout has been delayed...
2. I don't think I will get Windows 7 because they won't want to give it to all 140 students in my grade...
3. There is a contract that I have to sign saying that if I change the hardware, download illegal, or make any major changes (changing the OS) they can remove the laptop from my possession...

I don't have a copy of the contract with me now, but I can post it when I have it and you can take that however you want...

[Dekar]

lol so you don't own it?

[Black-Hole]

Ya Dekars right your borrowing the Laptop your not Buying it, Thats a rip off i would pay the extra invalid and get your own.
Pros - You can change the Hardware, You can get a bigger or smaller one depending on what you want, You can get one that can Multi task (school/Gaming), You get a Warranty not a Contract!
Cons- Costs more, If it gets stolen your screwed basically... Sounds like the schools Contract will most likely Include if its stolen (not sure what but it's prob there)

Oh and you can change the GPU on a laptop, when you flip it over you remove the panels and its under one of them, Mine you remove 3 screws and pull the panel (not entire back just a little door) off and the GPU is right there. I can remove mine just by grabbing and pulling it. The CPU is alittle harder to get to you have to remove 3 panels than the entire back to get to the CPU, The HD is also behind a panel along with a Cleaning Panel on mine, basically shoot compressed air down the third panel cleans the entire laptop of dust. Its a nice Feature

[Dekar]

Sure but once you pulled the GPU chip off the board you won't ever have fun with you laptop anymore -.-

[Black-Hole]

Like i said before, im putting a Nvidia 280 GPU in my Laptop fastest and most energy efficient GPU for a laptop ever made

[Dekar]

ION is surely more energy efficient!
And show us pics or it didn't happen!

[Black-Hole]

I haven't got the 280 GPU yet, but if you don't believe the 280 is real hers the Link

[matchai]

After we finish grade 12 (High school in Montreal) we have to pay an additional invalid of $1.00 (xD) and we can keep it...
The invalid of the laptop and the crazy warranty was about $3,000

Here is a copy of the contract:

??? = School's name

Laptop Loan Agreement

Spoiler for Contract:

The following constitutes the terms and conditions under which ??? has agreed to loan a laptop computer
(including the digitizer pen, docking station, battery and power adapter) ( the “Laptop”) to its students;
Description of the Laptop
Model & make: Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Model 7450CTO
Assigned to (student):
Terms of Loan:
1. The period of the loan of the Laptop shall be from 31 August 2009 to 25 June 2012 (the “Term”).
2. The Laptop will always remain the exclusive property of ???. It is prohibited for the student or
parent/guardian to install any accessory equipment or make any modification, improvement or addition
to the Laptop. ??? reserves the right to, at any time and without prior notice, inspect the Laptop and
its contents (including all software, files and data stored therein).
3. ??? will provide reasonable repair and servicing to the Laptop, when required. In certain cases, the
Laptop may have to be sent to IBM-Lenovo or another service provider for repair. Any damage to the
Laptop must be promptly reported to the Director of Information Technology at ???
immediately and the Laptop must thereafter be immediately returned to ??? for repair
and/or servicing.
4. Although the Laptop comes with a comprehensive IBM-Lenovo protection agreement,
parents/guardians may be charged service fees associated with the repair and/or replacement of the
Laptop when the damages to the Laptop are not covered by this IBM-Lenovo protection agreement
and/or are caused by misuse or neglect. The student and parent/guardian shall maintain the Laptop in
good operating order and comply with all of the manufacturer’s requirements and instructions.
5. In case of loss or theft of the Laptop while in the possession of the student, the parents/guardians will
be charged a $700 fee for a replacement Laptop. In case of theft, parents/guardians will have to file a
police report within five (5) working days of the theft or knowledge of the theft for insurance purposes,
otherwise the Laptop replacement fee shall be $2,450. Either of these fees shall become immediately
payable and owing to ???.
6. The Laptop is provided by ??? for educational purposes. The Laptop is not to be used for any other
purposes, including profit-making or illegal purposes, and in conformity with The ???
Handbook of Information, Policies and Regulations and the ??? Student Laptop
Responsible Use Agreement and/or policy in effect from time to time, the terms of which are
incorporated by reference in this Agreement.
7. No person other than the student, parent/guardian or ??? may take possession of the Laptop.
8. ??? makes no representations or warranties about the Laptop and shall not be liable in any way for
any failure of the Laptop, its accessories, or any software installed therein. The student and/or
parent/guardian agree not to hold ???, its employees, officers or directors responsible for any
damages or costs caused by:
a) The inappropriate use of the Laptop or related equipment
b) The loss or damage of the Laptop
c) The installation and/or use of illegally acquired software.
The student and parent/guardian shall indemnify and save ??? harmless from and against all damages
or costs suffered by ??? for which ??? may become liable resulting from any failure of the student
or parent/guardian to comply with all of the terms and provisions of this Agreement applicable to
them.


9. All software installed on the Laptop must be approved by ??? and comply with copyright laws.
10. Where ??? has provided the student with a replacement Laptop due to repairs, maintenance, loss
and/or theft, all of the provisions listed herein shall also apply to that replacement Laptop. It is
understood that in addition to off-site repairs, ??? may from time to time require that the Laptop be
returned for required on-site maintenance, upgrades or for other good and valid reasons in which
circumstances no replacement Laptop will be provided.
11. At the end of the Term the Laptop must be integrally returned to the educational office of ???, in good working order. Families who have not benefited from financial aid from ??? and
who have paid their school fees in full, may, at the end of the Term and after having complied with the
terms and conditions of the present agreement, may purchase the Laptop from ??? for a nominal fee
of $1.00. The purchase of the Laptop shall be on an “as is, where is” basis in its actual state and
condition at the time of the purchase from ??? and at the purchaser’s sole risk and peril. ??? shall
make no warranties whatsoever with respect to the purchased Laptop. In the event that a Laptop is not
purchased and is returned to ??? in poor working order, the Family may be required to pay a
replacement or refurbishing fee, which will depend on the state on the Laptop.
12. If, for any reason whatsoever, the student should cease to attend ??? before the end of
the Term, the Laptop shall be integrally returned to the educational office of ??? within
five (5) days of the date of departure. Failing such, the parent/guardian hereby agrees, in advance, to
purchase from ??? the Laptop at a cost of $2,700.
13. Families who have benefited from financial aid at ??? will also be permitted to purchase the Laptop
(subject to the same conditions #1 & # 11) provided that their school fees are fully paid and they pay
the purchase invalid of $1.00 plus the lesser of:
a) the total of all financial aid received from ??? between Secondary 1 and Secondary 5
OR
b) $2,700
The purchase of the Laptop will not include any of the software licensed to.
The parties herein have expressly requested that this Agreement and all related documents be drawn up in
the English language. À la demande expresse des parties aux présentes, cette convention et tout document
y afférent ont été rédigés en langue anglaise.
Identification of Family borrowing the laptop:
Family Name: Student Name:
Father's Name:______________________ Mother's Name:_______________________
Address:____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Authorization and Agreement:
I _________________________ (parent/guardian) authorize my child , to receive and use the above
listed Laptop in accordance with all of the above listed conditions.
Parent Signature:__________________________ Date:______________________
(DD/MM/YYYY)
Student Signature:_________________________ Date:______________________
(DD/MM/YYYY)

Tell me how you interpret this contract and it's leniency...

[Black-Hole]

3,000$? Are you insane... Its prob an 800$ laptop if that. You can get an alienware Gaming 17inch Laptop for about 2500$ You can get a Voodoo for 2 to 4 thousand... That is not a 3000$ laptop there is no possible way.

Edit: Looked up the laptop, Why do you need a FingerPrint Reader... Theres an extra 500$... I still suggest you go out on a limb and don't click me one but its not my money.

Also theres a couple hidden charges they don't tell you about.
At&T if your in the us it would prob be 25$ to 49.99$ per month if you wanted to use it.
Vista Business (another 150$)? Does the school put Home or Ultimate on it?
cellular modem ( HSPA ) (i don't know the invalid)

Theres alot of shit in this thing that you don't need, will probably never use that are going to slow your computer down/make it die faster (extra Heat). They will also make the Battery life shorter.